Kingdom Keepers: The Dark Kingdom
by talla-hassee
Summary: A Kingdom Keepers fan fiction based on Finn and Amanda growing up and having children. Their daughter becomes a DHI and has her own story to face in Disneyland. AN: Takes place as if the DHI program was retired after books 1 and 2. Though those stories take place in 2005/2006, we're gonna pretend 2014 is long enough away to be like 20 years later.
1. The Dark Kingdom Summary

Finn Whitman has grown up. The DHI program has done what it was created to do. Though, Wayne Kreskey shut it down in Disney World because of the danger implications. As Finn graduated high school, he joined the DCP and moved to California. Now, he works as a maintenance man for the Magic Kingdom because he knows exactly what can happen in the park at night. His wife, Amanda, works as security.

A new DHI program has arisen for Disneyland. Finn and Amanda refuse to let their high school daughter, Tallahassee, audition. Though, she goes against her parents and does so anyway. When she gets accepted she's forced to tell her parents. Finn and Amanda become furious, though know that they can't pull her out now. When Talla appears not to have any of the dreams he did, he calms down.

Though when the dreams start happening, she refuses to tell Finn, not knowing what wrath she would face. She and the other DHIs discover that the overtakers are back, though they aren't really sure what that means. The overtakers decide that the Magic Kingdom no longer needs to be magical, but dark, that they need to expand. So how will the DHIs stop the Magic Kingdom from becoming the Dark Kingdom?


	2. Chapter 1

Every story has an introduction, something to tell you of what is to come. Whether it's on the back cover, or the inside flap. Though, some leave it blank; a mystery for the reader. What I'm going to tell you? Someone once told me that every story has a setting. Mine starts at the Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Chapter One

"Smile!" Mom beamed as she pulled Jesse closer. Dad fixed his tie as the Kodak Moment Disney worker took our picture in front of the castle. I forced a smile, this was the 10th picture we had taken since entering the park less than an hour ago.

"Mom," Jesse whined, "you're embarrassing me." I looked over at Jesse, who looked about as red as a firetruck. Today was one of Dad's only days off. He's always so busy working on the park, that we rarely get the chance to go together as a family. "What ride have you been working on lately?" he asked Dad.

"We are still working on the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage refurbishments, the whole thing has been drained and we..." as Dad continued talking I ended up people watching. Mom was tipping the Kodak man who had the ID "Peter", who looked to be a student from the South Florida University. Well, Peter, I'm glad your dream was to be a Disney Photographer.

"What ride are we going on?" I asked aloud. Dad looked at me sharply, while Mom talked to me in the "I'm at work, but you're still in trouble" voice.

"Your father was still talking to Jesse about his job, you should have waited until he was done talking, sweetie." I cringed. Having Mom be a Disney security guard, wasn't much fun. Especially when Dad spent all his days here for maintenance. Jesse looked over at me and stuck his tongue out. That's a 6 year old for you.

Dad carried on talking while I carried on park watching. Even being here almost every day as a kid, as well as all the time with my friends, there was always a new detail that you could pick out at the park. Today, I noticed that trash cans changed designs from the entrance to Main Street, and that the ones through the arch of the castle were different as well. I know it's just trash cans but... Disney Magic, you know?

Mom put her hand on my shoulder, "What ride would you like to go on, darling?" I shrugged. In the end, they were just going to choose Jesse's opinion anyway. It's not that I minded, since I was the oldest, they already had all the Disney experience with me. "How about we go to Fantasyland? Alice in Wonderland has always been your favorite." I smiled.

Tori: Are you still at the park? How are things with Amanda and Lawrence?

Talla: I could use a rescue. Jesse time.

Dani: Say no more.

Tori: It'll be about half an hour, but we'll see you.

Talla: Fantasyland.

I looked up to Mom, who looked sort of worried about me. "Alice in Wonderland sounds great." She beamed, turning to Dad and Jesse, telling them of our next adventure. Jesse put on his pouty face, but Dad dragged him and turned to wink at me.

As we walked through the castle, the world of Fantasyland opened up to us. The Sleeping Beauty theme music changed into music that sounded like it belonged in, well, a fantasy. We turned left to head to Alice in Wonderland, passing Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Peter Pan's Flight, and The Mad Hatter hats and ears store. Jesse tried to drag Dad in to get a new set of ears, but Mom gave them both the eye. Apparently, I was getting the one ride of the day. The orchestral music of Alice in Wonderland was starting to come into range, and you could see the crazy, colorful tea cups spinning.

"You know, we just opened the ride again a little bit ago," Dad started as we walked up to the ride, "Special effects, new safety..."

"Lawrence, all you talk about is work," Mom grabbed his hand and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed as we stepped into the line. The little flowers and leaves all over "Wonderland" were of all shades of colors, light blue, pink, purple, yellow. They were good things for tourists to use in their "Sunny California!" background for their family pictures. Even without being tourists, my family does it almost every trip. "My vote for The Caterpillar is green."

From the queue line, you can see the extent of Alice's Wonderland as well as the Matterhorn and a portion of the track from Autopia. The White Rabbit's house wasn't far from the teacups, and you could see little boys and girls running up to the door knocking before sprinting away giggling and running back to their parents. At the teacups, you could see kids attempting to point up at the Chinese-looking lanterns above the ride, while their parents would tickle them every time they pointed upwards. Fantasyland just had an aura of happiness. And to be honest, I don't think I have ever seen a kid cry here. The whole ordeal made me smile.

The further into the queue, you could no longer see the top of the "mountain" that the world of Wonderland seemed to be hidden in. We got closer to the front. Our deal with guessing with caterpillar we will get, is that we aren't allowed to count to see exactly which one we get. "When did we start doing this, again?" Dad asked aloud. The tradition was just something that kind of kept happening.

"When Tallahassee was about 3," Mom started on her trip down memory lane, "She kept pointing to the ones going by. She kept pointing to the blue and green one practically wailing," she giggled. "She was wrong, we ended on the yellow and orange one. But even since then, we've guessed before we've gotten on the ride." Dad and Mom began to stare nostalgically at each other, which caused Jesse to make a gag noise. I laughed at him, to which he looked up and smiled at me. The caterpillar pulled up to the little mushroom control panel for the next family, and the cast member "Joanne" asked Mom how many was in our party. "Four. Jesse," She flashed her teeth at him, "would you like to like to sit with Tallahasse up front, or in the back with one of us?"

"Front!" He said, grabbing my hand. The caterpillar who pulled up next was pink and purple. "Not even close, mom." Dad laughed and high fived Jesse, who beamed as if he had just been offered the last piece of cake.

We got situated in the caterpillar, the kids up front and Mom and Dad gleefully in the back. The ride started up the hill, while Alice informed us not to leave the vehicle. "My journey to Wonderland began when I followed the White Rabbit down the rabbit hole." Jesse squirmed in his seat with anticipation. I looked down at him, his gray eyes wide with excitement. I ruffled his dirty blonde hair with my hand, and he giggled a little. Where there used to be random objects strewn on the walls, Dad's team of Imagineers had managed to create three arches of special effects, with things whizzing around your head. The door knob opened it's way to the next scene, where you watch Alice run after the White Rabbit, "Oh Mr. Rabbit, wait, please!"

"Here comes the best addition we made," Dad leaned forward and whispered to me. Mom was right, all Dad talks about is work. As Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum passed and the White Rabbit was on the move once again, we entered the scene of the Golden Afternoon. Where animatronics had once been, the flowers now swayed with song and sang along. As the words, "In the golden afternoon," were sang, The Caterpillar came up to our left. "Who are you?" He spoke as the letters came blowing out of his mouth and onto the wall. Jesse clapped and looked back at Dad in awe. The Cheshire Cat was next, and he was now animated as well.

From then on out, nothing much else had changed. We entered the courtyard where the heart cards sang. Painting the Roses Red was probably one of my favorite scenes in Alice in Wonderland. To be honest, I wish they had done something in terms of a more advanced adaptation. "Rule 42, the Queen always wins... OFF WITH THEIR HEADS." A few cards had been animated towards the end of the ride, and we were back to the top floor of the ride at this point. The last scene of the ride had turned from the Cheshire Cat's turning head into an animated series of tea pots and whistles to accompany the music. The final scene of the tea party had stayed the same.

As we exited the caterpillar, Jesse started chanting, "Again, again!" While Mom shook her head no, he put on a powerful pout.

"Talla!" I heard. I turned to see Tori and Dani waving from the fence of the Mad Tea Party. I looked to Mom as if to ask permission to leave family day and she and Dad nodded. I kissed Jesse on the head and waved to Mom and Dad, practically skipping to Tori and Dani. "Just in time, yeah?" I nodded.

"They were probably just about to bring up the program, too, so thank you," I responded. "Where to?"

"We already picked. It's a surprise."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

We exited the world of Fantasyland through the castle, and entered the world of Main Street USA. Down the walk, you could see the statue of Mickey and Walt. It seemed like more people took more pictures with both the statue and the castle, rather than just one. Mr. Disney really meant a lot to a lot of people. Further down you could see the Penny Arcade, and the old time theatre. The whole boardwalk scene looked like something out of a Pennsylvania catalog.

"Where to?" I asked Tori. Her long brown hair had been put in a ponytail today, making her hazel eyes stand out. She was a girl who acted like she could care little to none about appearance, but always looked good. Her smile and laugh were always genuine, she wasn't one to fake it for the empathy of others. Today, she wore light blue jeans, with a Young and Reckless hoodie.

"Like we said," Dani answered for her, "it's a surprise." Dani had dark brown hair with a few blonde highlights; it was short, a little above her shoulders. Her eyes were brown, but they never lacked emotion. If she was feeling anything, you could see it in her eyes.

I groaned, but didn't ask anymore questions. We turned right, passing Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe, which always made me want to eat a whole cake on my own. It was a white building, which looked like it popped out of the nation's capital itself. We were headed towards Adventureland.

The archway opened up, supported by the Enchanted Tiki Room on the left, to the right there was a building including the ATM and a phonebooth. Above the sign, a tiki mask was placed. Before we could even go through the arch, Tori and Dani turned left into the Enchanted Tiki Room. "No, no, no," I immediately complained. "Why the Tiki Room?"

They ignored the question and continued walking to the room. Currently, there weren't many guests waiting around, the Enchanted Tiki Room wasn't much of a popular attraction. A bunch of mechanical birds singing, big whoop. Around the waiting area were tiki gods, 8 in total; Maui, Koro, Tangaroa-Ru, Hina, Pele, Ngendi, Rongo, and Tangaroa came to life shortly before you were admitted into the theatre.

"What trivia do you know about the Enchanted Tiki Room?" Tori asked me. I knew a lot, to be honest. I knew that it had opened in 1963, though in Florida it was known as Tropical Serenade when it opened there in 1971. I shrugged, there wasn't much to say about the Tiki Room in Disneyland. "It opened in 1968."

"1963, actually. But it's not that exciting of an attraction," I said. "So, what's the point of us being here?" Dani smiled at me, while Tori began to giggle. Although, I was the only one who wasn't exactly finding this funny.

"The Enchanted Tiki Room was a whole new generation of technology for the Disneyland corporation," Dani started, "The imagineers dreamed this whole thing up. It was sponsored by United Airlines for the first 12 years, and now by the Dole Food Company in Hawaii."

"It was an attraction separate from the park, which charged 75 cents for admission. Being the first attraction in the park to have air conditioning, it was a hit. But that wasn't the only reason why; it was new, it was an innovation," Tori told me.

"About two decades ago, another innovation came into the park," Dani paused. In terms of building tension, my best friends were very dramatic. Danielle dreamed to be an actress, had been in at least 4 of the most recent school productions. Tori used to be in choir, but now she was more interested in science. "Daylight Hologram Imaging. DHIs came and went, just like when the Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management popped up in Florida. Though, DHIs are back."

"And, surprise, surprise, the Disney chat rooms have been lighting up. The list has been posted," Tori dug into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper that had been folded up. My heart dropped. Even though I auditioned to be a DHI for the pure reason of teenage rebellion, it would still be the coolest thing to ever happened. She handed me the list.

Charlie James

Carter Fields

Shaun Penrose

Tallahassee Whitman

Tristan Moss

"Talla, you got it," Dani chimed. I stared at the piece of paper. Part of me couldn't believe it, the other part of me didn't know how to tell my parents. "I have no idea how you feel right now because you are showing no emotion and it's freaking me out."

"How do I tell Mom and Dad?" I worried aloud.

Tori shrugged, "We can tell them together." All around us the Tiki Gods began to come to life. Maui was the first to come to life, explaining that the natives call him "the mighty one". Maui is Tropic Standard Time, apparently. Koro came next as the midnight dancer. Rongo is the God of Agriculture. Pele announced she was the goddess of fire and volcanoes. Ngendi said something about balancing the earth, but there was some commotion in the area.

"The Earth is moving!" A woman shouted. Many laughed, thinking it was part of the "Disney magic" the show continued as the lady began to panic. Tori walked over there and sat the woman down, asking her what was wrong. "I could feel it, the earth. It was as if there was an earthquake under my feet."

"Ladies and gentleman, come with us to a world of joyous song and wondrous..." The video started playing atop the Hawaiian style building. The woman continued to go on about the earthquake, while Tori asked her if she had eaten today or if she had a history of woman kept explaining that yes, she had eaten, no, she had never had vertigo, and that she did indeed feel the ground from underneath her moving.

"It was just your brain," Tori began to soothe her, "no one else felt it, it was just your mind." The woman began to breathe more steadily, her son looked at her like she was insane. The doors opened as cast members began to filter us inside. As two cast members came over to help, we left the woman and her son, knowing we had done all we could to help her.

"That is the weirdest thing that I have ever seen happen at the park," I remarked. Tori and Dani nodded in agreement. "She seemed so sure."

Before the show began, the cast members began by greeting us. "Aloha!" and the audience would answer back. "Oh, we can do better than that. Aloha!" The cast member laughed, "That was better. Alright folks, welcome to Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, brought to you by our good friends over at Dole. My name is Benjamin and I'll be your host tonight for the show. Please remain seated as we get this show on the way. Those with snacks you are more than welcome to continue but we ask that you that you take your trash with you on your way out. Currently we are located inside the theatre so we ask that there is no smoking or flash photography. If at any point you do find yourself smoking, just do the old fashion thing and stop, drop, and roll. If anyone would like to leave the show early we have exit doors in the back corner, just go through there and you are on your way. Now, folks, let's see if we can't wake up our master of ceremonies, Jose himself." The crowd began to cheer.

Jose began the show, waking up his friend Michael. Michael, in turn, woke up Pierre. Pierre cat-called to wake up Fritz but apologized to the "good madame in the audience", as it was not for her. The mechanical birds were placed on perches above the audience's heads, the perches swayed and turned to give the feel as if these birds were actually here. Michael announced that they had forgotten to wake up the glee club, and a soccer whistle was blown to begin the actual show.

"In the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room," began to fill the air around us. Children screamed with delight, as parents' annoyance turned to bliss. The Enchanted Tiki Room may be maddening, but the Disney magic would always turn faces around.

After about ten minutes, we finally exited the show. Although it wasn't as agonizing as I thought it would be, it failed to take away the fact that I would have to tell Mom and Dad that I had gotten the DHI job.

"Why would Lawrence and Amanda even be mad?" Dani asked as we bought a couple apples from the Adventureland Bazaar.

"They forbade me," I rolled my eyes. "They said they would help me get any other job here that I wanted. Just not a DHI. Something about the programming being 'unsafe' and 'too dangerous'. But I've looked into it. It's just a couple of kids being monitored by like 80 cameras and then we're turned into holograms. Ooooh, so dangerous, Dad."

Tori laughed. "I don't even want to know what they're going to say when you tell them." I nodded in agreement. "Even if you didn't tell them, they'd find out. I'd tell them sooner rather than later."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

When we pulled up to the house, Mom's car was already in the driveway. The lights in my bedroom had remained off, but you could see that Jesse had the basements lights on. As Tori and Dani got out of the car, I knocked on the door as I entered and before I knew it, Pluto was at my feet and wagging his tail.

"Hi, my love," I leaned down to pet him as he licked my face with excitement. My Saint Bernard puppy hadn't been with us for very long, about two years, but he was attached as ever. Though, his loyalty did change to whoever was willing to pay the most attention to him at any given time. Dani and Tori entered the house and he ran right to them.

"Tallahassee," I heard mom call from the kitchen. "Is that you?" I took my shoes off at the door, using my socks to slide as ungracefully as possible into the kitchen. Mom was making homemade mac and cheese. "Oh, good," she sighed with relief. "Will you shred the cheese for me?" She asked, pointing her pasta serving spoon towards the cheese on the counter.

"Hey, Mom," Tori and Dani said as they sat down on the bar stools at the kitchen's island. She smiled at them. It was normal for them to be over, it was usually every day. "How was the family Disney trip?" Mom began to hum and stir the pasta, getting lost in the cooking.

"It was nice, Jesse is still discovering something new every day," Dad answered, coming in and kissing the top of my head. He went over to Mom next, giving her a kiss on the lips. My parents had met in Florida when they were young. Originally, they were trying to track down Mom's sister. After they did, they just kind of realized their feelings for each other. Who would know that two young kids could fall that deeply in love?

"You guys seem to be in a good mood," Dani smirked. Mom continued humming and Dad walked down the hall to go check on Jesse in the basement. The cheese had been mostly grated by now, and I handed it back to Mom. I don't know how long she had been cooking, but the pasta was officially at a boil. If she had started earlier, she probably didn't want it done until I had gotten home.

"Tori, would you help me set the table?" Mom asked. Tori responded with a groan, getting up from her stool and came into the cooking area, grabbing six pasta bowls, six salad bowls, and six forks. Dani giggled as she walked by, and Tori snorted at her. Mom handed her the master salad bowl and winked at her, she wasn't getting out of helping either.

Mom began mixing the cheese and butter into the noodles, and I grabbed a pile of napkins taking them to the table. You could hear Dad playing with Jesse and acting like a giant from down the hall, they knew that dinner was ready. Jesse was giggling like crazy when Dad finally set him back down on his feet, and he sat at the table. Dad began gathering waters for the table, and set them down at everyone's place setting. I sat across from Jesse and we both stuck our tongues out at each other. Tori sat next to me, Mom and Dad would both be at the heads, and Dani sat next to Jesse. Jesse looked over and smiled at her.

"Oh, young love," Tori sighed and Dani giggled. Jesse turned bright red and snapped his head towards Dad.

"Do not, do not!" He pouted. Dad ruffled his hair and he looked down at his plate. Mom kissed the top of his head as she set the pot of macaroni down in the middle of the table. Dad started with himself and then helped Jesse, who handed it over to Dani. It circled around the table before it finally got to me.

The table was silent as everyone chewed happily. The silence, however, was broken when Dad cleared his throat. "Tallahassee," my heart dropped at the sound of my name. "Your mother and I wanted to apologize for something."

Dani and Tori both looked over at me, their expressions almost as terrified as I felt inside. "Apologize for what?" I asked, stuffing another mouthful of salad into my mouth.

"Not letting you audition for the Disney Host Interactive program," Mom interjected. Tori dropped her fork upon hearing the words, a fact that Mom had elected to ignore. "We just know that the first time this program was launched that the programming was dangerous, and we didn't want to risk any part of your health or your safety by allowing you to do it."

"I know that, Mom," I tried to play off. "The DHI program had it's holes. It's okay that you didn't let me." Upon hearing the acronym, Jesse's head shot up.

"But Talla, I found that thing that said 'DHI audition' on it." Dani and Tori looked down as nonchalantly as possible, while Mom and Dad looked straight at me.

"What are you talking about, Jesse?"

"That CD on your nightstand." You mean that CD that I completely forgot about?

"Oh, yeah," I faded off. "That one." Mom put her hands through her hair, finally resting them in front of her mouth. The room became silent once more, as everyone contemplated what to say up. Tori nudged me and gestured to Dani, who gave me the fess up look. I pulled the piece of paper out of my pocket. "They announced who got the parts today," I gulped, handing Dad the piece of paper. "I got it." Jesse started clapping until Mom shot him a glance.

"You are not doing that program," Dad stated, clearly. "I will talk to Mr. Lasseter, and we will get you pulled from the DHI program." Tori put her hand on my leg in support, and Dani whispered to Jesse to hand her more macaroni. "Now, are you girls spending the night?" He directed the question to Tori and Dani.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Dani answered. "I'll probably have Luke pick me up." It wasn't that Dani didn't want to stay, she just didn't like much confrontation. She'd rather avoid situations in which she feels unwanted. Dad nodded at her, and turned to Tori.

"Sure," she shrugged. "I've got nothing else better to do."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

About a week later, we were at Pixar Animation Studios, where Dad was practically begging to get me off the program. "John," Dad seemed to be getting annoyed, "there has to be a way to get Tallahassee out of this program. It's," he got quieter, "too dangerous for her to be in." Mr. Lasseter put his head in his hands and sighed.

"Look, Lawerence, I didn't know she was your daughter. She had a good audition tape," he tried to reason. "We already announced who got the part, orientation is today. You can't just pull her out now." Mr. Lasseter became a lot quieter, whispering something I couldn't hear.

"I suppose you're right," Dad's face became grim. "Just promise me you'll look after her. You're right, it might not even repeat. But I won't take the chance that it does."

"The chance that what repeats?" I interjected. Dad shot me a look, and I looked down.

"Why don't you go back out to the atrium, Talla," Mr. Lasseter put his hand on my shoulder. "Go get something from the cafe, and I'll let you know when we're ready to grab all of you DHI kids."

Nodding, I walked down the hallway and around a few corners, walking back into the atrium. Around the atrium there were the characters from Cars, a target with arrows through it from Brave, and many others. Employees were playing foosball and ping pong, while others were discussing ideas at Cafe Luxo. I went and stood in line, looking around at everyone in the area.

"Pretty cool, huh?" I looked over to see a guy with short black hair. "First time at Pixar?" My eye wandered to his name tag, which read Patrick. He laughed a little bit and nodded towards the cast member asking for my order.

"I," I began to stutter, "I don't know." It wasn't exactly that I was nervous. It was more that, someone had approached me. Most people who worked with Dad had no interest in his kids, in fact most people just avoided Jesse and I. I ended up pointed to a cookie and payed for it.

"I'm sorry if it's weird that I approached you," he began as he caught up to me walking to a table, "I'm just part of this new program called the DHI Revamp and I just thought you looked like one of the girls we hired to do it." He stood to the side of the table, watching me sit down. He was a tall kid, a little awkward with his movements. "I'm Patrick," he tried again.

"Tallahassee," I offered.

"So we did hire you," he smiled, sitting down. He had welcoming brown eyes, which seemed to examine me a bit. "Why are you here so early? We don't begin filming for awhile."

"My dad is trying to pull me out of the program," I sighed. "It's my fault, I did it without permission." He took a sip of the coffee he had bought, saying hello to another employee who walked by. We sat in silence for awhile, which didn't really me. I wouldn't have known what to say if we had even started a conversation.

"There's another one of the girls," he smirked. The girl walking in the door was kind of tall. Her brown hair went about shoulder length, curled up a bit at the ends. She was wearing a black and gray flannel with black shorts, not someone who would easily stick out in a crowd. "Her name is Carter Fields."

Carter was looking around for somewhere to sit, like Patrick had said, we didn't begin filming for another half an hour. She chose a secluded table near the wall furthest from us and pulled out a book. "Kingdom Keepers," I read the title out loud.

"By Cassie Mayvack?" Patrick questioned. "Have you ever read it?" I shook my head no. "Mayvack based it off the original DHI program, using the names of the kids they had chosen and made it into some action adventure series about the park. All fiction, of course," he smiled. Another employee came over and began talking to Patrick about an upcoming film session. "I'll see you in a little while, alright?" He excused himself. I smiled and nodded. He seemed pretty cool.

**Buzz.**

_Tori: So, did it happen? Is he pulling you out?_

_Talla: I don't think so. Lasseter didn't seem like he was dying to take me out. _

_Tori: Did they know you were his daughter?_

_Dani: Are you filming soon then?_

_Talla: Apparently they didn't._

_Talla: Yeah, in half an hour, if Lasseter doesn't give in._

_Dani: Fingers crossed._

_Tori: Same._

I got from where I was sitting and walked over to Carter. I stood at her table for awhile before she looked up. "Hi," I said sitting down. "My name is Talla," I extended a hand. Carter stared at it. "I'm part of the DHI cast, too."

She seemed reluctant to shake my hand, but eventually did so. She was Asian, with the same brown eyes as Patrick. Though she seemed more guarded. "Carter," she finally exhaled. The sound of her closing her book was barely audible, she placed it on the table in front of me.

"Is it any good?" She cocked her head a bit. "The book," I clarified.

She nodded, "Yeah. I wanted to have a little bit more knowledge about the process of the filming and if it's safe or any of that stuff," she faded off. She bit the inside of her lip, placing her hand on top of the book and looking at the cover. "It's pretty cool though," she spoke a little louder. "Interesting."

"I'll have to read it," I smiled at her. She looked up at me and smiled back.

"Sorry," I used her hand to move her hair out of her face. "Usually I'm not this shy. Well, I actually am but," she faded off again. "I'm trying not to be."

"Why did you audition, then?" I pried. "Not that I don't think you should have," I faded off. If awkwardness could be transferred from person to person, I was pretty positive that's what had happened to me.

"My mom thought that it would be good for me, an opportunity to meet new people and experience new things. Plus the whole college thing."

"Don't forget the free passes for life," I joked. She laughed. We both checked the clock. "I think it's about time," I stood up. "Would you like to accompany me to the filming room?"

She smiled and grabbed her book, standing up with me. We walked over to the door opposite of Cafe Luxo, where I had just recently left. As we walked through, a lady behind the desk nodded at me. "Hello again," she greeted. "You'll head down the main hallway, take your first left, and it's the third production room on your right."

"Thank you," Carter called, walking a little bit ahead of me. We rounded the corner and walked down the hall. She opened the third door on the right, where we were greeted by Elliot Benson.

"Hi, girls! We'll just need you to head to the table over there," pointing to a table to the left of all the filming equipment, "and wait for the last actor to arrive."

We walked over to the table and sat down, where Carter pulled out her book again and started reading. The boy sitting down looked athletic, maybe like a baseball player. He eyed me as I eyed him. "Need anything?" He asked, a little condescendingly. I shook my head no, and sat down next to Carter. He extended a hand. "Tristan Moss."

"Tallahassee Whitman," I shook his hand. He had a strong grip, green eyes, and a smile that could melt any girls heart. "Do you go to Anaheim?"

He ruffled the back of his hair slightly, "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"You beat us in the swimming finals, I go to Katella," I explained. He smiled at me, looking a little embarrassed that I knew who he was. I pulled out my phone in an effort to make things a little less awkward to see a text from Dad.

_Dad: Have fun._

_Talla: I will. Love you._

"There's only going to be four of us?" Carter wondered allowed. We were waiting for one more kid.

"Actually, there's six total," a familiar voice said. I looked over to see Patrick, sitting down at the table next to Tristan, across from Carter. "Hi, I'm Patrick," he introduced himself to everyone. "I'm the main camera operator for today's shoot. You guys are waiting on," he checked the notebook he had brought, "Charlie James."

"But there's only three of us sitting here," Tristan pointed out.

"That is true," he admitted. "Shaun Penrose is sitting over at the computers that will be tracking the animation," he pointed to the far side of the room, "He's interested, apparently." Patrick cleared his throat when the silence became apparent. "Today we will-"

The door we had come through suddenly opened, a girl who was average height, with blonde shoulder-length hair, spotted us to the left of the door and smiled. She walked over with confidence, "Sorry I'm late," she apologized immediately, "My mom absolutely can't drive when it's important." She sat to the side of Patrick. Tristan looked at her like she was some sort of alien.

"When you said Charlie, I thought it would be another guy," he leaned over to Patrick.

Patrick nodded and waved Shaun over, who sat on the other side of Carter. "Anyway, today we are basically going to learn about you; it'll be like an interview. We want to capture your essence and incorporate it into the park. We don't want anything to seem forced or rehearsed," he explained. As he went over the whole process, I looked over at Shaun. He was a tall kid, shaggy blonde hair, and blue eyes that looked as bright as the seemed intent on listening to Patrick.

"And after that, we'll get you guys going on what you'd like the holograms to wear and we'll start recording the lines for you guys, does that sound alright?" No one objected. All we had to do was talk about ourselves, get in green morph suits, record that, record our voices and then we were done. What exactly did Mom and Dad have against this project?


End file.
